New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he will attend a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka despite his Indian counterpart pulling out amid pressure for a boycott.

Key said his presence at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this week did not imply support for the Sri Lankan government.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already said he will boycott the event, but Key said the absence of the high-profile leaders would not change his mind about attending.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said boycotting the summit is not the right move.

Key said Foreign Minister Murray McCully would travel with him to Sri Lanka and on to the country's northern regions to examine the situation first-hand.

Meanwhile former State Diplomat and Political Analyst Dr. Dayan Jayathilake expressing his views about Indian Prime Minister boycotting CHOGM denote a decline of relationship between New Delhi and Colombo.

Dr. Jayathilake further said that Indian Premier’s action should not be a setback for CHOGM.

Meanwhile, Australia's prime minister was under mounting pressure to join his Indian and Canadian counterparts in boycotting a British Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka this week.

Australian Senator Lee Rhiannon called on Prime Minister Tony Abbott to boycott the meeting after she and New Zealand lawmaker Jan Logie were prevented from holding a press conference on Sunday by immigration officials.

She said the Australian delegation to the summit "should not be headed by Tony Abbott as prime minister."

However, Abbott's office did not immediately respond to the incident on Monday.

Update : Monday, 11 November 2013 - 1:05 PM

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New Zealand Prime Minister says summit boycott 'not the right move'

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he will attend a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka despite his Indian counterpart pulling out amid pressure for a boycott.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already said he will boycott the event, but Key said the absence of the high-profile leaders would not change his mind about attending.